Buzz, Balls & Hype

THE DOCTOR IS IN

If you will be in the NYC area on Monday, November 10, please come to the launch party for the new literary magazine Ozone Park at Queens College. I will read, along with several terrific contributors.

FINAL (I HOPE) POST ON VOTER'S BLOCK

Everyone I know is on edge. A friend suggested that I offer workshops on managing election stress, then reversed herself: "Never mind--you wouldn't be able to tear us away from our computers." Last week a dear friend walked out of one of my readings because the Q&A turned political, and he took offense at what he perceived to be classist attacks on one of the candidates. Clients and friends report nightmares, insomnia, and inability to focus.

I had started to write on a different topic, one I usually find compelling and important, but I can't stay engaged with it. I don't imagine that you would be interested this week, either, no matter how brilliant and incisive I managed to make my post.

So I'm going to spare us all empty effort, and concentrate instead on a concept germane to both writers and political figures, which one of our nation's leading political philosophers (I'm not actually joking) introduced in 2005:

"I will speak to you in plain, simple English. And that brings us to tonight's word: 'truthiness.' Now I'm sure some of the 'word police,' the 'wordinistas' over at Webster's are gonna say, 'hey, that's not a word.' Well, anyone who knows me knows I'm no fan of dictionaries or reference books.

"I don't trust books. They're all fact, no heart. And that's exactly what's pulling our country apart today. 'Cause face it, folks; we are a divided nation. Not between Democrats and U.S. Republicans, or conservatives and liberals, or tops and bottoms. No, we are divided between those who think with their head, and those who know with their heart.

"Consider Harriet Miers. If you 'think' about it, of course her nomination's absurd. But the president didn't say he 'thought' about his selection. He said this:

(video clip of President Bush:) 'I know her heart.'

Notice how he said nothing about her brain? He didn't have to. He feels the truth about Harriet Miers.

"And what about Iraq? If you think about it, maybe there are a few missing pieces to the rationale for war. But doesn't taking Saddam out feel like the right thing?"

The real conflict, I think, is not between intuitive understanding and hard facts. As writers, we are aware of the deeper truths that often underlie, and at times belie, the visible facts; and as horrified observers, many of us have repeatedly known in our guts over the past eight years that we were being sold a bill of goods, long before all the facts about a given situation were on the table.

The problem with both facts and feeling arises when we stop there--when we latch onto a tabloid story which may be factually accurate but which presents a superficial, simplistic depiction of a position or situation as the whole picture; or when we rely solely on our initial emotional response without questioning the contribution of our own history or preconceptions to our feelings.

In writing a story, it's not enough to say, "Mary was a nice person." Why should the reader take our word for it? We don't have to present charts and graphs proving the integrity of Mary's character, but we need to show Mary's actions and responses; to shine a light that will show her clearly. And if we do so honestly and in depth, we may discover facets of Mary's character that aren't so nice after all, and these become part of the story, too. As readers, we know that if a character is introduced as a hideous hunchback or a humble friend, chances are we are being set up to experience stunning inner beauty or hate-driven ambition--because the surface, the headline, the immediate response, are only the beginning of the story.

When clients describe their experience or feelings in glib generalities, I usually ask them to "unpack" the terms they use; to be more specific and personal in their speech. When they try, the result is often the communication of deep reserves of fear or pain that they were trying to avoid by glossing over it.

Glossing over the fear and pain is sometimes necessary, in business and social situations, to achieve a larger objective. For an artist, the truth is the larger objective. Politicans play by different rules--but voters can't afford to simply go along with the game.

Whatever the outcome of this election (and I know, I can stop right there, because one outcome is unthinkable--but it has been thought, and it is being thought, and it could still eventuate--and we will have to deal with it), I hope we will all slow down, take a deep breath (or a strong drink) and resume our quest for the truths that are deeper and realer than either facts or emotions. Truth-tellers are needed now, more than ever.

Susan O'Doherty, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with a New York City-based practice. A fiction writer herself, she specializes in issues affecting writers and other creative artists. Her book,  Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued: A Woman's Guide to Unblocking Creativity (Seal, 2007) is now available in bookstores. Send your questions to her at Dr.Sue at mindspring dot com. 

Must read interview with a (my) most terrific agent.

Over at LitPark, Part 1 of an interview with Dan Conaway, (my) agent extraordinarre at Writers House.

Is This Blog Worth $16.95? (Prices may vary.)

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know where the above question is headed.

We don't ask for much at Buzz, Balls & Hype but that every year or so on pub day (which is today)  we do ask you to consider buying our newest fiction effort (Links to all major online retailers - out in hardcover - prices vary from store to store.) as a way of showing that you think this blog is worth it.

We're not great at talking in the first person - obviously - about our owns books - but its an Indie Next Pick for November and here's some of all that nice early praise stuff:

"Rose's fascinating follow up to The Reincarnationist…skillfully blends past life mysteries with present day chills. The result is a smashing good read."
- Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

“Gripping… Rose once again skillfully blends past and present with a new set of absorbing characters in a fascinating historical locale.”
- Starred Review, Library Journal

Rose tells [the story] elegantly moving gracefully between characters, between time and place, and building both momentum and suspense ... recommended highly to readers who appreciate mysteries tinged with the supernatural. - Booklist

The second in her The Reincarnationist Series, THE MEMORIST is a powerfully fast paced thriller that is relentless with its ever build tension.Rose grabbed me in the first chapter and tightened her grip on my imagination with every turn of a page leaving me worn out by the time I reached the amazing climax. This is a truly incredible book." - Crimespree Magazine

"I do not believe in reincarnation, but I do believe in this writer's ability to make you want to believe. This is the page-turner-you-cannot-go-to-sleep-till-it's-finished thriller of the year."
- Sheldon McArthur, NORTH BY NORTHWEST BOOKS, FOUNDER OF THE MYSTERY BOOKSHOP LA.

M.J. Rose does it again with THE MEMORIST another breathtaking thriller from the prolific best-selling author of THE REINCARNATIONIST. In this engrossing novel Rose interweaves a multiplicity of themes involving a quest to resolve issues from the past, the music of Beethoven, a secret society and the threats of terrorism. Only M.J. Rose could bring these plot strands together for a credibly incredible denouement. For a memorable read, experience THE MEMORIST. - Mystery Lovers Bookshop/Mary Alice Gorman

Available at Amazon, BN, Books-a-Million, Borders & Indie Stores.

Linktopia #3

In the words of Marketplace that airs on Public Radio we’re going to “Do the numbers” on Linktopia today. With the help of Juge Page.

  Writers just dipping into marketing waters like any business person want to know what to do, how to reach an audience, where to find the people that might buy your book, and it would be great if it were simple, but in truth, it’s not.  It’s a constantly changing target, and you are on the leading edge of seeing what works.  The creative part of advertising and marketing is what appeals to us, but when you are spending your money you want some numbers to give you some assurance.

At MarketingCharts.com you can see a variety of research that might help you think more clearly about how you are marketing.  It’s not a complete answer but every bit helps.

Book trailers.  Love them or hate them it seems every writer is experimenting and there’s nothing wrong with that.  Do you know who is watching most of the video ads?

Despite current buzz around fancy and expensive video ads, only 11% of consumers say they are likely to click on them, compared with 25% who would likely click on simple  ads and 20% who would click on right banners, according to a study from iPerceptions, Inc.

Continue reading here

Staying with video ads, it’s not to say older viewers aren’t watching video, they are, but it’s not what you think. 

Most consumers - 62% - are viewing video online, and contrary to popular opinion those viewers are not just young adults viewing user-generated videos, according to a bi-annual video study from AOL’s Advertising.com, which sought to analyze online video viewing and response to video advertising.
Most (69%) of those viewing videos are age 35 or older, with a preference for viewing news clips online, the study found.

The rest of the story is here.

You know the largest part of your audience are female readers, the ones you want talking about your book.  You might be surprised they are ready and willing.

“We’re seeing women using online avenues like email, online forums and social networking websites to extend a role they’ve long held as information seekers and relationship builders,” said Chuck Schilling, Nielsen Online’s research director of agency and media analytics. “Moms, in particular, look to the web to connect with other parents for tips and support, and they aren’t afraid of new technologies - this group is nearly 25% more likely than average to author a blog.”

The numbers are here

Novel Ideas

Two fascinating ideas:

1.

CBS Interactive is partnering with Saturn to launch a scripted Web
series starring Daphne Zuniga.

The company plans eight episodes of "Novel Adventures," an online
series by Jonathan Prince, the creator of A&E's "The Cleaner" and
CBS' "Cane." Each episode will be presented for a 48-hour window on
CBS.com, TheInsider.com and TV.com and then roll out across the CBS
Audience Network. The series premieres online Nov. 3.

"Adventures" tracks four friends who embark on activities inspired by
various classic novels. In the first episode, the girls head out for
an afternoon of deep-sea fishing honoring Hemingway's "The Old Man
and the Sea."

And the promo for it is here.

2. And here's a way to read classic literature on an iPhone. Sheer genius.

THE DOCTOR IS IN

MORE ON WHY WE KEEP WRITING

In April, I received an intriguing email from Peter Cox, the British literary agent who hosts the Litopia Writers' Podcasts. His staff had enjoyed my recent posts on BB&H, and wondered whether I would be interested in being a featured guest on an episode of Litopia After Dark, the lively hour-long interview and discussion show broadcast live each Friday and then archived in podcasts.

I hesitated. As chronicled in this space, I have been trying to push myself in new directions, to embrace challenges I would have avoided previously from shyness or anxiety; but this invitation posed difficulties I was not at all sure I was ready to face.

For one thing, the regular panelists were intimidatingly literate, articulate, and quick-witted. I had trouble keeping up with the repartee when I was just listening to the show. My own gifts tend to be more reflective--give me a difficult problem and a week to ruminate on it, and I may come up with a complex but coherent response. Throw out a question to a group and more often than not, the discussion will have moved on by the time I've finished digesting the question itself.

Complicating things further, I have a mild hearing loss that makes it difficult for me to follow spoken communication without accompanying visual cues. In phone conversations with people who don't know me well, I sometimes come off as dull or uninterested, when I'm actually just trying to process what is being said. The prospect of engaging in spontaneous, rapid-fire discussion with a group of unseen strangers, some of whom had exotic (to a Brooklynite) accents was daunting.

Conveniently, I expected houseguests on the proposed date. I declined with what I hoped was convincing regret. But Eve, the program manager, wrote back quickly, offering another date. This time, I had no excuse. I accepted. 

I have no recollection of what was said on the program, and I still haven’t listened to the podcast. When it was over, I took a deep breath and prepared to cross this off the list of challenges I had taken on and survived.

Then Eve emailed to ask whether I would consider becoming a regular monthly panelist.

Since then, I have blanked out at critical on-air moments. I have lost the thread of a discussion and uttered a silence-producing non sequitur.  I have misheard questions and comments, and committed gaffes that would make Joe Biden blush. And I have lived, and the world has gone on spinning. My fellow panelists aren’t jaguars waiting to pounce; they are thoughtful and interesting people who enjoy a lively discussion or a rousing game of literary 20 questions. I feel I’m becoming part of an odd, scattered, yet engaging community, and I look forward to our monthly colloquia.

I have had similar experiences participating in group readings for anthologies, most recently the two readings this week for Mama, Ph.D. I get nervous before readings, often to the point where I regret having accepted the invitation. I’m a writer, I tell myself, not a performer, and next time I’ll remember this.

Fortunately, though, I write only on subjects I feel passionately about, and when I start talking about my passions, my shyness dissipates. So once I warm up, I tend to become fully engaged and open to the possibilities for connection these events offer.

Over the years, some of these connections have led to deep and lasting friendships. Others have been more transitory, but nonetheless rewarding. I am grateful for all of them.

As a child, I often felt lonely and out of place. As is the case with many writers, my intellect developed more quickly than my social skills, and peers tended to consider me weird. My interests seldom coincided with theirs, and my questions and observations made them uncomfortable. As I matured I learned to mask my strangeness with a veneer of social appropriateness, so that I fit in better, but a core of loneliness remained.

Books were my escape and my solace. Authors felt like kindred spirits to me, smart, lonely misfits who had important things to say and had to write them down because there was nobody around to listen and understand. I sometimes imagined that one day I would meet an author or two, and we would break through the loneliness, talk to each other, and be friends.

What a surprise, and a blessing, to realize that, unlike my aspirations to become a fairy godmother, to live in Atlantis, and to converse with my cat, my most important childhood dream has actually come true.,

Susan O'Doherty, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with a New York City-based practice. A fiction writer herself, she specializes in issues affecting writers and other creative artists. Her book,  Getting Unstuck Without Coming Unglued: A Woman's Guide to Unblocking Creativity (Seal, 2007) is now available in bookstores. Send your questions to her at Dr.Sue at mindspring dot com.

The Ad Man Answers #46

Thursday + Gregory Huffstutter = The Ad Man Answers

Advertising Make-Over #3

Continuing our series, the Ad Man has chosen the next “winner”… Katherine Howell.

Here’s the back cover copy from Katherine’s soon-to-be-released thriller THE DARKEST HOUR:

Paramedic Lauren Yates stumbles into a world of trouble the night she discovers a dead man in an inner city alley – the killer still lurks nearby. When the murderer threatens to make her life hell if she tells the police, she believes him – he’s Thomas Werner, her sister’s ex and father to Lauren’s niece…and not a man to mess with.

But when a stabbing victim tells her with his dying breath that Werner attacked him too, she finds herself with blood on her hands and Detective Ella Marconi on her back.

Ella knows Lauren is the perfect witness, but when Lauren tries to change her statement, Ella realizes that Lauren is hiding something. The harder she digs into the paramedic’s past, the more Lauren resists, and the worse the threat from Werner becomes.

Will Ella’s investigation put her career on the line? Can Lauren keep her family safe? Or will they all – Ella included – pay the ultimate price?

It’s too bad that TNT cancelled “Saved” after one season, because that would’ve been the perfect property to tie in with Katherine’s novel.

The next best option would probably be FX’s “Rescue Me,” which has similar themes (only with screwed up firefighters instead of screwed up paramedics). Buying network TV commercial time is generally out of reach for most authors not named Patterson, but “Rescue Me” was hamstrung by the Writer’s Guild strike, pushing the ’08 season into Spring ’09.  To bridge this gap, “Rescue Me” been showing original “minisodes” online, which are available for sponsorship and have been averaging 100,000-200,000 viewings per episode.

At a $30 CPM – the common price for online pre-roll– purchasing a commercial for 200,000 video plays would cost around $6,000.  Not cheap, but Katherine’s initial release of THE DARKEST HOUR is in Australia, and one of the benefits of online advertising is the geo targeting possibilities.

If Katherine just bought the “Rescue Me” video views originating from an Australian ISP – let’s say 10% of the total – then for $600 Katherine could potentially reach 20,000 Aussies that enjoy stories about rescue workers enough to seek out online webisodes.  Of course, this pre-supposes that Katherine has the means to produce a 15-second or 30-second book trailer, and she can find a contact at FX (or FOX8 down under) to sell her just the Australian audience… but this is an example of how the Internet makes it possible to piggy-back on a major, international TV property without breaking the budget.

Due to the subject matter, medical professionals would also be a natural audience for THE DARKEST HOUR, but it’s difficult to place advertising in hospitals.  What Katherine may be able to do, though, is reach hospital workers through their paychecks.  In the US, companies like Payday Perx and AdChek specialize in printing ads on payroll stubs.  If she was able to find an Australian company offering a similar service, Katherine could catch those ER workers when they’ve got a fresh infusion of cashola in their bank accounts.

No matter how Katherine ultimately advertises her book, she’s already won half the battle with a stylish, well-designed author homepage.  One idea to drive repeat traffic to her website would be to host a User-Generated video contest similar to eBillme’s “Shop and Confess.”

The topic could be: “Tell us about your darkest hour.”  Viewers would be encouraged to submit a short video – disguised faces acceptable – talking about the most difficult period of their lives.  Ideally, these confessionals would encourage voyeuristic viewing as fans voted for their favorite “low points.”

To encourage submissions, Katherine could offer a grand prize that relates back to her book.  A portable defibrillator would be appropriate, but pricey.  Another prize possibility could be a free hour of therapy at the winner’s favorite shrink.

Kicking off the contest, Katherine could film an actress playing the paramedic Lauren, her face in shadows, doing a confessional about how she knew about a murder and kept quiet.  This video could be rotated with the other user submissions, then re-purposed into her book trailer.

Picture an Australian “Rescue Me” fan going to watch a new online webisode, but before their video starts, this pops up…

User video 1: “The night I slept with my wife’s sister—”

Cut to user video 2: “—never gave back the money even though he trusted—”

Cut to user video 3: “—my face covered in vomit, and if they hadn’t pumped my stomach—”

Cut to user video 4: “—could she leave me?  After I’d given the bitch everything—”

Cut to user video 5: “—hearing my mother died.”

Title slide and voice over: “What was your darkest hour?”

Cut to actress playing Lauren: “I tried everything to save him – Ambu bag, CPR, IV, laryngoscope.  When he bled out, I wanted to do the right thing, go to the police, tell them what I saw… but they didn’t know Thomas… what he could do to my sister, my niece.  And now I have even more blood on my hands…”

Title slide and voice over: “Hear more at KatherineHowell.com.  THE DARKEST HOUR.  Click here to order from Amazon.com.”

So that leaves two more advertising makeovers.   It’s not too late to enter… if you’re interested, leave a book description and homepage URL in the comments section.  I’ll draw the next “winner” from the pool of all entries, including the authors who signed up the previous columns.

 

Gregory Huffstutter has been punching Ad Agency timecards for the past decade, working on accounts like McDonald's, KIA Motors, and the San Diego Padres. He recently finished his first mystery, KATZ CRADLE and is currently on submission. The first 100 pages of his novel are linked here. For general advertising questions, leave a comment or send e-mail to katz @ gregoryhuffstutter dot com with 'Ask The Ad Man' in the subject line.

Linktopia #2

If you want to only think about marketing your book, yourself as little as possible, then today is for you.

With a nod to the past week of Wall Street craziness, today’s Linktopia (with the help of Judge Page) is some comfort food, a back-to-basics refresher. 

First, whether it’s your blog, or an ad for your book how effective is the headline you are using at grabbing interest?

Does the headline immediately “grab” the reader? (In advertising guru David Ogilvy’s book Ogilvy on Advertising, Ogilvy states that five times as many people read headlines as read body copy.)  Ideally, the headline is nine words or less.  Continue reading here

Once you have their attention, then what? Well, branding comes into play.

Customers experience thoughts and feelings when they consider your company’s product or service.

That’s part of the first of five things business people (when you take the writer hat off) can learn about branding.  Read all five here

Why?  How important do you think “why” is when it comes to marketing your book?

All your customers want to know is, Why should I choose you? Why should I take this decision? Why should I spend this money? Why should I look at your website? Why should I read your brochure?’ Why should I listen to your speech? ‘Why? Why? Why?’

Agree? Keep reading to find out more.

Why My Book is Free?

As readers of this blog know, I've been advocating free books since before there were blogs and before there were ebooks. Recently my publisher agreed to give away my novel for free for two weeks and I wrote an article for Huffington Post about it which I'm also posting here.

For the next ten days anyone who wants one can download a free copy of my last novel, The Reincarnationist. (Click here) But why is my book free? It's a question everyone has been asking me.

Well, it's not because I'm independently wealthy or because I think The Reincarnationist is worthless. My book is free because my husband always asks me to bring home cookies from Sant Ambrose whenever I go into New York City. It's because I wear one of the L'Oeuvre Noire perfumes by Kilian. And it's because we both use L'Occitane Verbena Shower Gel. And what all those things have in common is at one point in my life as a consumer - or his - we sampled them.

When I was the creative director of Rosenfeld, Sirowitz and Lawson, a NYC ad agency we introduced a new Charles of The Ritz fragrance to the tune of 40 million dollars in TV commercial and print ads. You'd think that was enough to launch it, right? It wasn't. We still made sure that every woman who stopped at every perfume counter in the country got a lovely little pink bottle of the stuff to take home and wear for a week or so. And when we introduced a new breakfast sandwich at McDonald's we gave out coupons to lunchtime customers so they could come back the next morning and eat for free.

It's because trying something for free is the best way of discovering it. And free doesn't mean sampling a quarter of a cookie - it means the whole cookie. It doesn't mean someone spraying my wrist with perfume - it means them putting a small bottle of the fragrance in my shopping bag. It means spending a weekend in a hotel and taking two showers using the same soap. It doesn't mean reading the first five pages of my book online - it means reading my whole book for free as a way of discovering me as an author.

As consumers we are faced with hundreds of choices - and when it comes to books thousands of choices. So how do you choose? I was a reader before I was a writer - one of those kids who walked home from school with a book up to my face, about to fall in the proverbial  pothole because I couldn't see where I was going.

And now I'm one of those people whose books are triple shelved and who can't go anywhere without carrying two titles -one that I'm reading and one back up.

And so as a reader I'm suffering along with every other reader by a wealth of books (over 1000 novels are published every month) but not a wealth of wallet and so every time I walk into a bookstore or go to a bookstore online I'm confronted with more titles that I want to read than I have money to buy. Books on their own aren't insanely expensive compared to other things  - three large cappuccinos cost more than a paperback... two and a half gallons of gas cost more than a paperback.

But these days we are all watching our dollars and I find that faced with so many books to buy, I wind up with choice fatigue and all too often end up buying the safe bet - the book by the author I've read before who I'm sure will offer a satisfying read and passing over new books by authors I haven't heard of even if they look interesting and exciting, because I can't buy everything and I can't afford to make many mistakes. But if you buy books this way you're bound to miss out on a lot of exciting discoveries.

Back in 1999 and 2000 a few of us... a very few of us... Douglas Clegg, Seth Godin and I... offered free electronic copies of our books in an effort to reach an audience we otherwise wouldn't have reached and to test out a new marketing concept for books. Despite the industry screaming we were crazy, it worked.We each wound up selling many more copies of the books that we gave away than anyone expected and for each of us the experiment was a success. 

Back then many thought it an audacious move and even though we proved free books led to increased books sales it's been hard for me to convince any of my publishers to try it again. Until now. I guess it's an idea whose time has come, or I've gotten more persuasive, or the VP I asked at my publishing house recently got a nice sample of a new moisturizer at the department store and understood the idea ... but whatever the reason, I'm thrilled.

For the next ten days The Reincarnationist is free to anyone who wants to download it from Amazon's Kindle Store or from my website. Why? So readers like me can take a chance on... well... me.

Linktopia #1

Lots and lots of relevant links here if you care about books and selling them and reaching readers and being inventive. (With the help of Judge Page.)

• Do you think about that next circle or are content with your inner circle?

Bible publishers go niche in hopes of gaining readers - “Martin Luther King Jr. graces one page, Angelina Jolie the next. A photo of a man on fire opens the Book of Revelation. And laid across a two-page image of gasoline spilling from a pump is the quote that begins, "The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast."

“It's not the good book some may remember.”

Continue reading here

• Read about how iPhones will be the billboards of the 21st century. And a place we all should be thinking about putting some marketing muscle. Continue reading here

• What does it mean that 68% of Americans have Library Cards? What's happening at libraries? What's changing?

• This piece dabbles in a few different areas, but I pulled sentence below from near the end since it would certainly seem to apply more than ever...

For all of those who are currently planning a budget for next year - be bullish, be a purple cow, be creative, but please do not go the "same old/same old" route and expect different results. Sometimes less is just less.

• Should you Twitter and Facebook and Myspace and Linkedin?

Some experts say no.

• The Reinvention of NPR –in a word: Multimedia.

Can books be far behind? Are we already doing this? Should we be doing it more?

“This year and next, NPR is tackling an ambitious and comprehensive plan to transform itself into a multimedia force: The organization is asking all of its journalists to rethink their storytelling and audience interaction the way Hill has. Most news organizations are at least paying lip service to this multiplatform goal, but NPR is putting its money (and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's) where its mouth is: The foundation gave NPR $1.5 million to train its 450 editorial employees in digital storytelling skills and to pay for substitutes to fill in for them while they learn. NPR is putting an additional $1 million into the training.”

Read the whole article here.

• Redecorate a Pringles Can for Charity. Good idea. How about a Bookcover?

Read the article here.